A sand barge yesterday crashed into the retractor span of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) causing extensive damage and resulting in hundreds of persons being stranded on both sides of the Demerara River for almost seven hours.
The Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) said that the incident occurred at about 11:30 am when a vessel bearing the name Desal 1 with two tugs, Alpha 1 and Chaka, slammed into retractor span 9. The vessel was transporting sand at the time and was heading north when it hit the bridge.
A statement from the DHBC said that the impact pushed the bridge out of alignment causing the breakage of the connecting end post at spans 7 and 8. The breakage of the connecting post caused a transom beam to warp resulting in a slight opening. The accident also caused several buoys to burst.
At the time of the incident, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic and had been retracted to facilitate marine traffic. The closure was expected to last one hour, 11 am to 12 noon, but ended up being extended to just about 5:15 pm.
This caused traffic to be backed up as far as Bagotville and Versailles on the West Demerara.
DHBC first informed commuters of the incident, via its Facebook page, at about 12:30 pm. It stated “There was an accident during the retraction where a Tug & Barge hit the bridge. Engineers are currently conducting maintenance work. Updates will be posted as soon as possible. Management would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The next update came about three hours after while junior Minister of Public Works Deodat Indar was inspecting the works.
A statement was later issued which informed that the bridge’s engineers and technical staff were working on realigning it. It added that the team was also working to repair retractor span 9 at the impact site.
“That caused a slight opening there and no vehicle can be allowed on the bridge out of an abundance of caution, we are working to get this back up as soon as possible, but right now it’s hard to give a specific time,” one engineer was quoted as saying following the assessment.
The statement also informed that Indar was conducting an assessment with the engineers. He was quoted as saying “DHBC staff and Contractor are working to get the bridge re-open to traffic after several damaged aspects of Span 9 needed repairs after this morning’s accident. Upon repairing the power module of the hydraulic system, the span will be reclosed, everything is being done to fix this.”
DHBC also said that it is in contact with the local consignee of the vessel and tug and barge.
President Irfaan Ali also visited the bridge to inspect works.
Just after 5 pm, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill visited the bridge as it was preparing to reopen to light traffic.
“After lots of hard work by the team here at Demerara Harbour Bridge are opening up to light vehicular traffic, ten tonnes and under. At this time about 5:10 [pm], we are now opening up. We will not be able to allow trucks and laden canters on the bridge. We are asking
people where they see the cones to slow down and traverse carefully. This is the section of the bridge which is most damaged, that needs to be handled delicately.
“We will be able to tell people when trucks will be able to pass that is because we need to deal with the damages from the underneath,” Edghill said during a Facebook live video.
He spent just about 30 minutes there and oversaw the first set of vehicles crossing the bridge. Additionally, a no-toll period was implemented for just about half-hour immediately after reopening.
`Giving back’
According to General Manager of the DHBC Wayne Watson, that period was “us giving back to commuters although it is a loss for us but this is to show that we care too.”
During a brief telephone interview with Stabroek News, following the reopening of the bridge, Watson said that they are asking commuters to exercise restraint and adhere to the traffic warnings. He explained that cones and security personnel have been placed on the bridge to monitor traffic and ensure commuters adhere to the warnings.
“…we are asking commuters and drivers to observe speed limits and we have some other markers on the bridges, some cones and some flashing lights so when they approach those areas we are asking them to proceed with caution. Because there can be a drop based on what vehicle they are driving and also we restricted vehicles weighing more than 10 tonnes,” he said.
Watson added “there was severe damages to the bridge. Our anchorage, several anchorages got damaged [and that includes] both buoys and chain. We had some shifts. So we have some transom beams that got damaged, we have some enforcers that got damaged, we have some more damages to the retractor span nine but the most critical area that we need to look at is span seven and eight. The junction at span seven and eight [is badly damaged and] that is why we restricting the weight. If that section wasn’t damaged we would have been able to probably carry the 18 tonnes as per normal.”
When asked if work would continue throughout the night, Watson said that it was highly unlikely. He explained that the engineers and technical staff have been working since the retraction, without break, so they are exhausted and cannot be expected to function optimally.
“We wanted to work through but that is not possible based on the volume of work. We decided to have security and reflector cones out for the night to mark the areas that are damaged. We will start fresh in the morning and keep going until we fix everything but for now we will not continue working,” he said last evening.
On September 03, 2019, a tug and barge crashed into the bridge causing extensive damage. The tug, a Panamanian vessel, apparently drifted from Grove/Diamond on the East Bank Demerara and its crew belatedly issued a distress call. That caused major disruptions and repairs amounting to several million dollars. It is unclear if the company has repaid that money for the damage.
Yesterday, when it was revealed that it was yet another foreign vessel that crashed into the bridge, Watson was asked to reveal the name of the company the vessel was attached to and its origin. However, he declined to do so.
Instead, he said “I would not rather say the name of the company right now. I was advised not to say anything about who the company is at this time. We know that it was an injustice that was done to the commuters but we got to exercise restraint. We got to engage the folks. The barge is in the hands of the Port Security and they can’t leave until we sort out the necessary payments for repairs. While we know [which company it is] I don’t want to disclose the name. They can’t leave the country unless we work out the payment arrangement and so on so on that will be done tomorrow [Monday].”
Ripple effects
Every time the Demerara Harbour Bridge encounters lengthy retraction periods, there is always chaos for people living on the western end. Though yesterday was not a business day, many persons were in Georgetown trying to do some last-minute shopping for their children to attend school today.
At the Georgetown speedboat stelling, alternative arrangements had to be put in place for commuters since hundreds of persons flocked the small area trying to get home. The regular stelling area was packed to capacity with commuters heading from east to west.
This caused officials from the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) to utilize the Customs Boathouse area for commuters travelling from Vreed-en-Hoop to Georgetown.
Commuters said that the situation once again reinforced the need for the authorities to seriously look at rehabilitating the Georgetown Stelling to cater for such occurrences.
At the Vreed-en-Hoop stelling, several persons were toting large suitcases, seemingly headed to the airport.
Speedboat operators used that opportunity to also exploit commuters who had no other options. Though the regular fare from Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop, and vice versa, is $100, speedboat operators were charging upwards of $200. In some cases, they were charging $500 and $1500 if persons wanted to immediately head across from Vreed-en-Hoop.
These fares were advertised in the presence of the Transport and Harbours Department officers who are posted at the stelling.
Stabroek News was able to speak to a few of the commuters who all expressed displeasure at the situation. However, they said that they were left with no option than to pay the double fare to get home.
“We can’t do anything right now because is either we pay the $200 and go home or sit down in a bus for God knows how much hours and wait for them to fix the bridge. I only come over here to pick up a shoe for my daughter go to school tomorrow and then this happen,” one frustrated parent said.
Another man lamented the congestion at the stelling saying that persons could be robbed since everybody was packed together trying to get a boat to head over to Vreed-en-Hoop.
Taxi drivers also upped their regular fares during the commotion. One man headed to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport told Stabroek News that he was told that a car would take him there for $20,000. The average fare from Georgetown to CJIA is just about $10,000.
